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Help?year Abroad-vienna

I'm a 2nd year undergraduate student about to embark to study in Vienna as part of my year abroad. Would appreciate if anyone who has spent a year in Vienna would share any information. E.g.Finding accommodation,price, best way to find it, best areas, anything else from own experience.
Thank you in advance!

Reply 1

oxymoronic

My best friend is just coming to an end of her erasmus in Vienna.... I've been out there a couple of times to see her, I love the city. One of my other best friends (not her, another one) is Austrian and lives there properly too, so it's my home from home.

Accom - don't get uni halls if you can help it as they're overrun with foreign students and you'll invariably end up speaking english. She got a shared flat with some austrians, not sure how - it was through friends of friends of friends type thing, but there are loads of people advertising if you look around as I helped her look. I'm not exactly sure where she lives in the city, but its an alright area but i think its fairly popular with the immigrant population meaning her rent is a little lower than normal. It only takes her about 10-15 minutes on the metro to get most places, so it's central. She had to pay around 1000 euro as a deposit, which is apparently normal after having spoken to Austrian friends, they normally ask for about 3 months rent apparently! And the flats are all unfurnished, you have to buy your own furniture including beds, wardrobes etc. They went to ikea and got stuff... again, apparently this is completely normal after having asked friends! You might be able to avoid this by looking for a flat to take over from an Austrian student who is going away on their year abroad for the year and just take over the lease.

She has had an amazing time, you'll love it - make the most of the travel oppertunities tool, you're at the centre of europe!

Reply 2

clair0511

Hi

I live in Vienna, have been here for 11 years ever since I graduated from Nottingham uni in 1998 :biggrin:

I'm studying vet med here and am in the middle of revising for my end of year exams (stress!) but if you have any definite questions then let me know....

What are you going to be studying? (there are different unis for different subjects in Vienna and the campuses are spread around the city, so need to know the subject before suggesting places to live!) I would agree with the PP about trying to get a furnished flat from someone going abroad for a year. And yes, going through official estate agents costs a fortune 2-3 months rent for a deposit and in the worst case 2-3 months rent as commission for the agent (i.e. you don't get that back!). Sharing with Austrian students is definitely the best way to learn the language (I shared with Germans when I was on erasmus in Germany!)

How is your German? If it's any good then try posting on www.studivz.net and you should be able to find a furnished flat or WG (Wohngemeinschaft = flat share). There is also an organisation that arranges accommodation etc for exchange students (www.oead.at), at least they used to organise stuff.......also check out the Austrian students union - you can download info in English here: http://www.oeh.ac.at/en/quicklinks/downloads_bestellen/

Vienna is a great city, good fun and very safe compared to the UK :wink:

Some of the more dodgy districts are the 10th (postcode 1100), 5th (1050), maybe the 2nd (1020) around the Prater area. V. expensive (and further out of the city) are the 18th (1180), 19th (1190), 13th (Schönbrunn is here) and 14th (1130/1140) - postcodes help you find out which district a flat is in when looking for accommodation.

Public transport is great and relatively cheap - about 3 euros for a day ticket but students can get cheaper semester tickets (I'm not eligible as I'm over 27y!). One ticket is valid for everything - tram, bus and underground. Night buses run every night so it's never a problem to get home!

hth
Clair

Help?year Abroad-vienna

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